Lessons From AIDS/HIV Advocacy Efforts (WSJ)
This month marks 30 years since the first case reports were published about HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. A new report analyzes the factors that helped patient advocates drive research into and drug development for that disease, and tries to figure out whether there are lessons to be learned for other disease advocates.
The paper, called “Back to Basics: HIV/AIDS Advocacy as a Model for Catalyzing Change” and co-authored by consulting-firm HCM Strategists and the nonprofit group FasterCures, is based on in-person and telephone interviews with activists, scientists, government officials and policy makers involved with the HIV/AIDS advocacy movement. It credits patient advocates with helping to implement regulatory changes that sped up access to investigational drugs and with ushering in an era where patients are taken seriously and their views represented on governmental and scientific committees.
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Complete article at WSJ : http://on.wsj.com/iMbaeJ
